In a heartbreaking incident over the weekend, an eight-year-old girl met a tragic fate at the DoubleTree by Hilton Houston Brookhollow, leading her family to file a wrongful death lawsuit. Aliyah Jaico, remembered by her family as a child who “loved to swim,” was found deceased after being entrapped in a pool pipe at the Houston hotel.
The distressing event unfolded on a Saturday evening when Aliyah, participating in family pool activities, was unfortunately drawn into a large pipe of a lazy river-style pool. Her absence was noticed around 5:45 p.m., triggering a desperate search that concluded sorrowfully the next morning with the discovery of her body.
The lawsuit, initiated by the Jaico family’s attorney, Richard Nava, implicates Unique Crown Hospitality LLC, operating under DoubleTree by Hilton Houston Brookhollow, and Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc., outlining a series of alleged failures that culminated in this tragedy.
Among the grievances, the family contends that their immediate request to review the hotel’s security footage was unjustly denied, delaying the search efforts.
It wasn’t until law enforcement and Texas EquuSearch were allowed to access the video surveillance that the grim reality came to light. The footage revealed that Aliyah had been drawn underwater, vanishing from sight, a discovery that shifted the search efforts to a focused investigation of the pool’s infrastructure.
Described as a task of considerable scale, rescuers employed heavy machinery to dismantle the pool area, where they eventually located Aliyah’s body trapped within the pool’s pipe system. This discovery, described as “unimaginable” by Texas EquuSearch Deputy Director Angelina Farris, underscored a nightmarish scenario far removed from the initial suspicion of an abduction.
The lawsuit accuses the hotel of gross negligence, linking its alleged oversight directly to the fatal accident. The family seeks justice through a claim for damages exceeding $1 million and has requested a jury trial to examine the case thoroughly.
In response to the tragedy, a Hilton spokesperson expressed deep condolences on behalf of the company, emphasizing that the DoubleTree by Hilton Houston Brookhollow operates independently under a third-party owner. Hilton disclaimed direct involvement in the property’s daily operations or its staff, deferring further inquiries to the legal representatives of the hotel ownership group.
This tragic event serves as a somber reminder of the critical importance of pool safety and the dire consequences of negligence. As the legal proceedings unfold, the Jaico family mourns the loss of Aliyah, a young life cherished and remembered.